I talked with Pam Jolliffe, President and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada this morning. Obviously she cannot monitor every single club in detail but they are very aware at the national level that there are issues with the Dovercourt Club and the cancellation of the Ernest Club. I agreed in conversation to not at this time provide any details of our talk. The short form version is we discussed the many issues.
The regional BGC manger will be having a meeting within a week with current management and Board Chair to find out what is going on and to get some answers to the many questions swirling around the community. It has also been promised that others from the JT with direct knowledge of the situation will be contacted to shed light on the situation and that the National Office will sty in contact with us as they investigate.
This sounds wonderful, count me in. I'd like to help. I am reasonably handy and fit. I have a good eye; I can install things so they hang straight etc. Or I could sit one of the shifts.
-Sally
I can't believe how fresh and amazing the sandwiches at Nonna's Place are!!! I am so impressed with the friendly service. Make sure you try the chicken cutlets....they are to die for!
i think it's taking them far too long to provide answers and full disclosure. the rumour mill is already churning and it's only going to make it that much harder for the club to receive future community support/donations/volunteers if they don't answer to the community asap.
really looking forward to hearing the TDSB's response to our campaign. everyone did a great a job and i have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the committee. our school and this community have become even more important to me over the last few months. i can't wait to see what comes next!
A new school year has begun and with the chilly weather in the last few days, it feels as though summer abruptly left us. At the start of the summer season, a group of Junction Triangle residents decided to unite under the banner of "Pump Up Perth". After a well attended public meeting with our school Trustee Maria Rodrigues and former Superintendent Manon Gardner, it was explained that the TDSB needed at least 100 letters from the community. The letters would prove to the TDSB that the Junction Triangle community was, and is indeed serious, in acquiring a French Immersion program. This would lead the way to expanding the school into grades 7/8 in the future. Letters are required to prove that there is a need for the TDSB to begin looking into a French Immersion program at Perth PS.
Cue the drum roll ....the Pump Up Perth Residents Committee is happy to announce that we have collected 100 letters!!
We would like to thank ALL the parents who have signed a letter in support of, not just, a French Immersion program at Perth PS but in support of OUR COMMUNITY. We could not have done this without you. Thank you! Thank you for all your effort.
We would also like to thank the wonderful library staff at the Perth-Dupont branch and Joanne Bigham, from Open Door Designs. They have supported our campaign from the very beginning by providing a place for residents to sign and drop off letters and broadcasting our cause through their business e-newsletters. Thank you!
The 100 letters are now in the hands of Perth PS Principal, Janice Robinson, who will give them to Maria Rodrigues. If all goes well with the TDSB study plan, Perth PS may have their first French Immersion Senior Kindergarten class by September 2011.
-----------------------------
In union there is strength. ~Aesop
Boy this letter is short on answers and long on vague promises. Reminds me of past correspondence from Tony Ruprecht. Did you fight to save the club or just let it die? The decision to take the Ernest location was not made in haste but in desperation because they have been in limbo for over two years. You have now succeeded in prolonging that.
Why wasn't the community consulted about this? You made a decision and shoved it through and wasted a lot of money and volunteer weeks in the process. You owe the parents and children of this community some real answers immediately.
An interesting bit of history. Back in 2007 the Boys and Girls Club (then on Randolph) was threatened with eviction by George Leon of Leon furniture fame. The community fought back and started a "Boycott Leon's" website. It worked. In less than two days after the site was up the director of the B&G club phoned us and asked us to take down the link and logo for the same club that we were fighting to save! Head office (the Boys and girls Cubs of Canada) had put pressure on him (he wouldn't say he was threatened, but he didn't deny it either) to disassociate the club from the community and the website. It turns out the Boys and Girls Club of Canada was "negotiating" with Leons for some kind of donation. I guess they work for corporate sponsors, not for kids. It doesn't surprise me they have left our kids out to hang again. Feel free to contact them and ask why they repeatedly demonstrate contempt for the Junction Triangle children.
Pam Jolliffe
President and CEO
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
7100 Woodbine Ave., Suite 204
Markham, Ontario. L3R 5J2
Perhaps this would be a good time to start a new discussion topic. I don't have kids so I can't say much, but a community meeting in say a couple of weeks might be in order. As fun as it is to beat on each other, we might save that wonderful vitriol for a moment. I propose we get as many facts as we can (they may not be forthcoming), come together say Thursday the 23rd, in a park if we must, a better location if we can.
We might conclude that no action would be useful and we could then resume our regular Keystone Cop routine. Or we might have demands that we feel need to be put to the boys and girls club - or someone else if we come up with a more eligible villain. Perhaps we might want to get a couple of buses to their Markham headquarters to make some noise as a gentle suggestion that it would be wise for them to make the Junction Triangle a top priority. It might be nice to focus this wonderful creativity externally for once.
I find it strange that at the same time that the DBGC is shutting down the Junction Triangle site and warning of dire consequences they are in the press celebrating all the money they have raised and all the celebrities that are involved.
They don't mention Junction Triangle or the shut down in the story even though it happened at the same time. Something seems odd to me about this. The public gets a letter that's all sunshine but the we get a letter of doom and gloom. Is this the same organization?
I am reading almost all the comments and I want to know what we can do to fix this problem. As a mother, I am worried for the kids and I don’t want to put more wood to the fire I just want to help and find solutions for the good well of our kids and our community.
Kevin Beaulieu and Ana Bailao have nothing to do with the day to day running or the Board of this organization so dragging them into this makes no sense; even I was told great things a short while ago by DBGC so many people have been deceived.
It is clear though that the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club has a lot to answer for as they are the ones legally responsible for this site and the funds. What happened ? I have not heard one credible explanation for this fiasco.
The record shows that the City has bent over backward to help the club and so did the new landlord. The vague reasons for closing down the new location just don't hold up to even modest examination. What is the real issue behind all this?
The DBGC needs to open it's books and minutes to the community that funds it and explain step by step starting a year or so ago what has been going on and where money has been going. Is that too much to ask of a charity?
The Boys and Girls Clubs have done a lot of great work and it pains me to see what is happening but sometimes you need to dig and deal with what you find in order for something to survive and you also have to stand up for the children of your hood when you feel they are paying the price for other peoples mistakes.
I have been monitoring the emails going back and forth, and find it rather pathetic that it has come down to this.
As a parent who is a member of the club and has his son enrolled as a member year round, I cannot believe the position that the club has been put into.
Just to clarify, my entire life has been ward 18. More than I can say for most of the candidates running.
At the last debate Kevin came out publicly and said that he was very instrumental in the procurement and negotiation of the lease. When and if this is true and is confirmed then Kevin should wear this. As he almost destroyed what has become an institution in our ward. The Boys and Girls club has been around more than forty years and he almost took it down in less than two years.
I almost find laughable if it wasn't so pathetic how he was trying to gain points, as Ana was being questioned as to her involvement with the club (by one of the members). When Ana snapped backed and asked her to "get her facts" straight next time. I know if the club suffers so will Kevin at the polls, and as for Ana, I know that member and I am sure you will have your hands full with her.
I think it would be best if none of these two spoke of the club as if they have not done anything or have any interest in its betterment. The proof is "in the pudding".
I think it would almost be best if a closer look as at to what happened at the club can be done. And, the people responsible should be made to answer.
Thank you,
Vince DeMasi
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
Thanks for keeping me in the loop. We're working on a letter to the community right now to go out tomorrow. .
Anyway, there has been not a lot political in our decision making.. Our decision was made by ourselves once we had all the info, and the big shocker in the new info was that we were planning this huge investment when all we had was a permit for a professional dance studio! We don't run professional dance studios. The building is not permitted to be used as a children's space, it doesn't even have an HVAC system. It has no windows. There is no yard for the kids. Why it was ever conceived is incomprehensible to me. When we inherited this situation, we really explored how we might make a go of it, but all roads led to this end. There comes a time when you have to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a cow's ear.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell
It is good to start hearing something from an organization that spends our money and I commend them for that. I do think though that there are many unanswered questions about the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club process and governance that this letter does not answer and I am pretty sure that residents will want to see minutes from meetings and documentation.
Justin’s response has a lot of "I" and a lot of "we" but not a lot of Junction Triangle having any input, say, or access to information about how decisions affecting our children and donations that were or are made on our behalf. And in some ways this document is at odds with a letter circulated yesterday by the Board Chair Vivian Payne. Here are some of my thoughts.
--For an issue as serious as this I am surprised a release was not put forth by the entire Board and the Chair. Yesterday the Chair said she felt uncomfortable speaking without the rest of the Board and today we have an operations manager speaking on matters that were ultimately voted on by the Board in a press release issued at 7pm at night. Does the Board know about this release, does it have their stamp of approval? Who exactly is making decisions at DBGC? I am not exactly sure. This is a serious situation affecting hundreds of children and the health of a community, why has the entire Board not issued a statement? Or made a pledge to clear the air soon?
--In her letter of yesterday Board Chair Vivian Payne writes "One of our goals is more community decision-making involvement. " This seems at odds with Justin's letter where he states "In the next few weeks, senior staff will be meeting to form a working group tasked with compiling an Executive Plan written, designed and published specifically for the Junction Triangle Community." This doesn't sound like "community decision-making involvement" to me at all. A top down approach to making decisions about programs that we in part fund is not going to fly in Junction Triangle any more.
--There are a lot of vague comments in the letters like "We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy. " This may be very true but so far no member of the public has seen one piece of documentation that shows this or explains the circumstances that led to this. There was ZERO opportunity for the community to get involved and possibly save the situation or at least brace themselves for this terrible blow to community pride. A screw up of this magnitude deserves far greater detail.
-- Payne states in her letter "I can say that services for the children in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood are now the top priority (other crises having been dealt with)". Exactly how many crisis situations are there at the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club? Is the closing of the Junction Triangle in any way related to issues elsewhere? How could the Junction Triangle site as you say "put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy."? Is there a larger issue that possibly needs addressing? What exactly is the larger story? Is Junction Triangle the sacrificial lamb for other issues or locations? Explain.
-- I am alarmed by Payne's statement about staff that "I think they have some really good and practicable ideas about how to move forward in an even more inclusive way than running a single-site operation." This statement would seem to suggest that the issue is not with the governance of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club but in the actual structure of the outreach and it reaches the conclusion, once again with ZERO community input, that Junction Triangle doesn't need a single site option. Junction Triangle residents will be the judge of those kinds of assumptions from now on.
Frankly this statement reeks of pandering and condescension. It seems absurd to me that an organization that is involved with communities would see little value in a single site option that could provide many different things for an even greater amount of the community. It would seem obvious to most that a community that has no community center or central meeting place or medium sized meeting hall would benefit in many ways from a central single location operation. An operation that could be rented out to the community and others for all sorts of events that would PAY THE RENT on the location. And maybe too some others like literacy or kids playgroups could use the space for free because it would be the right thing to do. And how lovely to be only a few feet from Railpath, the single most important new public infrastructure in the community in 20 years? And what about the role of the community rallying around a central site of pride where children are celebrated? What could be more inclusive than having children see their club a respected and valuable part of the larger community?
I guess not for the children of Junction Triangle. They get second best. All they will get will be the same overcrowded pokey rooms spread out all over the place with no sense of cohesion. There will be no "here" here but apparently single site solutions work very well on the other side of Lansdowne.
--Probably most troubling is this statement "I am looking at Ernest as a "wrong turn". We have corrected our direction in canceling the project, that's all." The wasting of a few hundred thousand dollars of our (public) money and many donations is just a "wrong turn" that Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club Board and Operations Manager can back up, turn around , and drive away from? Dash the hopes of a community and its children and walk away "thats all". Waste a very large amount of money and hold nobody accountable, it was just a "wrong turn". How disgraceful and maddening to dismiss the loss of what could have been a massive game changer and soul creator so easily.
These late night letters from Justin and Vivian do not clear any air for residents of Junction Triangle; they only beg more questions. How much money exactly is walking away from this site going to cost including legal fees to break a lease? Who exactly is responsible for this colossal screw up? What attempts were made to raise new money or get a rent reduction or find additional rent payers to share the cost? Why wasn’t the community alerted to the issue in a timely fashion considering they are stakeholders? How many Board Members are from Junction Triangle compared to the breakdown of donated income and children served of DBGC? Why did one of the Board Members from Junction Triangle feel they had to resign? This situation deserves a full response and accounting from the Board of DBGC before one more cent of public money or donated services is spent.
An Open Letter from Operations Manager Justin Hanna:
Dear members of the Junction Triangle community, on August 24th, 2010, after a careful review of the Ernest project and the long term operations and goals of our organization, our new Board of Directors decided to cancel our quest to build a new centre at 45 Ernest Ave. This was not an easy decision and no one was happy to make it.
I would like to share with you the reasons for this decision and what we intend to do over the coming months to ensure that the long term promise of a permanent home for our newly named Junction Triangle Boys & Girls Club become a true reality. We would like to clearly state though, that while our work at 45 Ernest Ave has ended, our work to provide top notch quality after-school programming and day camps for your community continues. As we write this letter, the senior staff at the Junction Club are busy preparing their programs for the new school year, and are extremely excited to begin a new year with the hundreds of youth they serve. We remain committed to the Junction Triangle community and we are committed to ensuring that every youth who joins our club, is well taken care of and surrounded by great positive role models.
Here is a brief history of events. In April 2010, I took over from retired Executive Director Tony Puopolo. At that time, I began a full review of our organization and a review of our capital projects. I began by asking the question, did these projects make sense for our Club as a whole, did they serve the long term interest of the youth we serve and did they serve the long term interest of the communities we proudly play host to. The project at 45 Ernest Ave was one that was rushed into by the previous administration, one that was never properly evaluated for its site use requirements, effectiveness or economic feasibility. Our organization rushed into a massive capital project without ensuring that all proper steps, including proper zoning, were taken to ensure that our Club could properly operate in this facility. As a result of prior poor planning and judgment, we would have been left with a centre that could never serve the basic function of our organization, let alone the long term programming goals that staff are planning to execute over the coming months.
I realize that a promise was made to all of you, that you would be walking into your new home this year. While I am delaying this promise, please know I intend to keep it. I believe that the community deserves a Club that can help foster the positive changes happening within the Junction Triangle, a centre that you can be proud of and call your home, a centre designed for the 21st century and one that delivers on the types of programs that we as an organization and you as parents demand.
In the next few weeks, senior staff will be meeting to form a working group tasked with compiling an Executive Plan written, designed and published specifically for the Junction Triangle Community. A plan that looks specifically at your community, its demographics , the interest of youths, and other program service deliveries in the area. This plan, with its goal of being completed by spring 2011, will for the first time look at our critical role in the Junction Community.
We rushed into the 45 Ernest Ave project. We refuse to make the same mistake twice. We are going to be a permanent player in the Junction community, we are going to be a long term positive force and we are going to ensure that every youth in the Junction Triangle community has every opportunity that every child deserves in our great city, therefore we are going to start planning for the long term. I make a commitment to you that this process will be done properly and efficiently.
I hope you, as community members and leaders, can understand the difficult decision that we have had to make, and grant us the opportunity as an organization to get it right.
Our staff at the Junction Triangle Boys & Girls Club currently operating out of 120 Perth Ave, are excited to begin a new school year and are committed to providing top notch after school programs.
Finally, we have to acknowledge the tremendous support, assistance, and advice we received from Councillor Adam Giambrone and his staff. Also, we thank the staff and students at Central Technical School, Sears, the GAP, and Home Depot for their valiant attempts to turn a warehouse into a community centre. It is entirely regrettable that all our efforts were in vain.
Thank you
Justin Hanna
Operations Manager
Dovercourt Boys & Girls Club
Why did they keep everybody in the dark and not provide a chance for people in the community to seek solutions and maybe even raise funds?
If they leave that location there will be.
1. The waste of the original funding and donations.
2. The cost of restoring the site to it's original condition which is standard.
3. The legal fees and penalties for breaking the lease.
How much donated money and time are we about to loose here? And on whose shoulders does this fall?
At the August 25, 26 and 27, 2010, Council meeting Council voted to give 35,000 to the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club on Westmorland for their reno needs. Was there ever any discussion or attempts to get help for JT at that time?
It would be great if the Board of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club came clean on what they have been up to and engage the actual community where donated money was spent (and may be wasted).
I am Vivian Payne, Interim Chair of the new Board of Directors for the Dovercourt Boys' and Girls' Club.
Your comments come just at the right time. We are just now finalizing our information letter to go out to the community. You are right, we are cancelling the Ernest site, and we are planning a community meeting to explain the situation. It is really complicated, and we do have very good reasons, which will be explained, I promise. At the AGM, there were things that we did not know that affected the viability of the project, hence the optimism about Ernest that you saw at that meeting. That optimism was genuine. We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy.
I don't want to say too much more right now because I hesitate to say too much without consulting with the other 15 Board members. Just because I am the Interim Chair, does not, I feel, give me the authority to speak for the others but I thought you should have some response. I am trusting that the other Board members will forgive me this once. We have adopted a very democratic model for this new Board, which is, I believe, one of the best Boards in Dovercourt's history. One of our goals is more community decision-making involvement. You're not seeing that happen yet because we've only just started to work together as a group, but you will see evidence of it soon, and I hope you will become part of that.
I can say that services for the children in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood are now the top priority (other crises having been dealt with) and while we may not have the Ernest site as a home base, we are looking at ways to actually increase services to children in the area. How to accomplish this has been the subject of very passionate discussion in our first two meetings, all discussion with the theme "How do we do more?". Our Operations Manager, Justin Hanna, and our two Program Directors (Tony Palermo and Matteo Severino) have been absolutely stellar in their commitment to the children and their families, and I think they have some really good and practicable ideas about how to move forward in an even more inclusive way than running a single-site operation. They are the employees on the ground, and we on the Board are going to take a lot of direction from them.
I am looking at Ernest as a "wrong turn". We have corrected our direction in cancelling the project, that's all. This doesn't mean that where we end up, now that we're on a better course, won't be wonderful, and possibly better, than what was originally conceived.
Email me back. I'd be happy to meet with you. And you can copy this email to others on your list. I'd have copied them myself but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I hit "reply" not "reply all" at the beginning of writing, and then I was worried I'd lose the text if I tried to change it after I'd started writing.
I talked with Pam Jolliffe, President and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada this morning. Obviously she cannot monitor every single club in detail but they are very aware at the national level that there are issues with the Dovercourt Club and the cancellation of the Ernest Club. I agreed in conversation to not at this time provide any details of our talk. The short form version is we discussed the many issues.
The regional BGC manger will be having a meeting within a week with current management and Board Chair to find out what is going on and to get some answers to the many questions swirling around the community. It has also been promised that others from the JT with direct knowledge of the situation will be contacted to shed light on the situation and that the National Office will sty in contact with us as they investigate.
This sounds wonderful, count me in. I'd like to help. I am reasonably handy and fit. I have a good eye; I can install things so they hang straight etc. Or I could sit one of the shifts.
-Sally
I can't believe how fresh and amazing the sandwiches at Nonna's Place are!!! I am so impressed with the friendly service. Make sure you try the chicken cutlets....they are to die for!
i think it's taking them far too long to provide answers and full disclosure. the rumour mill is already churning and it's only going to make it that much harder for the club to receive future community support/donations/volunteers if they don't answer to the community asap.
Please note: I have moved the comments about the Boys & Girls Club to their own forum topic. They were off-topic here. Here's the new link for all followups on that issue:
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/855
For those who are interested, here is the link to the Toronto Star article, titled "5 tight city council races to watch".
In yesterday's Star their was an article about which wards to watch during the upcoming election. Ward 18 was one of them.
really looking forward to hearing the TDSB's response to our campaign. everyone did a great a job and i have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the committee. our school and this community have become even more important to me over the last few months. i can't wait to see what comes next!
12 City Councillor Candidates again includes me - Ken Wood.
Let the real race and debates begin ! http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/09/campaigning-moves-to-high...
You can also see links to information on the FORTY-ONE candidates for Mayor here:
http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/09/pick-mayor.html
Registrtation to run for city elections is now officially CLOSED (as of 2pm today Sept 10)
A new school year has begun and with the chilly weather in the last few days, it feels as though summer abruptly left us. At the start of the summer season, a group of Junction Triangle residents decided to unite under the banner of "Pump Up Perth". After a well attended public meeting with our school Trustee Maria Rodrigues and former Superintendent Manon Gardner, it was explained that the TDSB needed at least 100 letters from the community. The letters would prove to the TDSB that the Junction Triangle community was, and is indeed serious, in acquiring a French Immersion program. This would lead the way to expanding the school into grades 7/8 in the future. Letters are required to prove that there is a need for the TDSB to begin looking into a French Immersion program at Perth PS.
Cue the drum roll ....the Pump Up Perth Residents Committee is happy to announce that we have collected 100 letters!!
We would like to thank ALL the parents who have signed a letter in support of, not just, a French Immersion program at Perth PS but in support of OUR COMMUNITY. We could not have done this without you. Thank you! Thank you for all your effort.
We would also like to thank the wonderful library staff at the Perth-Dupont branch and Joanne Bigham, from Open Door Designs. They have supported our campaign from the very beginning by providing a place for residents to sign and drop off letters and broadcasting our cause through their business e-newsletters. Thank you!
The 100 letters are now in the hands of Perth PS Principal, Janice Robinson, who will give them to Maria Rodrigues. If all goes well with the TDSB study plan, Perth PS may have their first French Immersion Senior Kindergarten class by September 2011.
-----------------------------
In union there is strength. ~Aesop
Pam Jolliffe
President and CEO
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
7100 Woodbine Ave., Suite 204
Markham, Ontario. L3R 5J2
T: 905/477-7272 X 226
info@bgccan.com
I have called Pam and asked her to make a public statement on the situation.
"If you know of any links to other candidates' websites, please post them here."
Complete list of contacts, weblinks, photos, etc here:
http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/09/campaigning-moves-to-high...
Last chance to register or withdraw is 2pm TODAY Sept 10 at City Hall...
Boy this letter is short on answers and long on vague promises. Reminds me of past correspondence from Tony Ruprecht. Did you fight to save the club or just let it die? The decision to take the Ernest location was not made in haste but in desperation because they have been in limbo for over two years. You have now succeeded in prolonging that.
Why wasn't the community consulted about this? You made a decision and shoved it through and wasted a lot of money and volunteer weeks in the process. You owe the parents and children of this community some real answers immediately.
An interesting bit of history. Back in 2007 the Boys and Girls Club (then on Randolph) was threatened with eviction by George Leon of Leon furniture fame. The community fought back and started a "Boycott Leon's" website. It worked. In less than two days after the site was up the director of the B&G club phoned us and asked us to take down the link and logo for the same club that we were fighting to save! Head office (the Boys and girls Cubs of Canada) had put pressure on him (he wouldn't say he was threatened, but he didn't deny it either) to disassociate the club from the community and the website. It turns out the Boys and Girls Club of Canada was "negotiating" with Leons for some kind of donation. I guess they work for corporate sponsors, not for kids. It doesn't surprise me they have left our kids out to hang again. Feel free to contact them and ask why they repeatedly demonstrate contempt for the Junction Triangle children.
Pam Jolliffe
President and CEO
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
7100 Woodbine Ave., Suite 204
Markham, Ontario. L3R 5J2
T: 905/477-7272
info@bgccan.com
The potential wasting of $200,000 minimum is a worthy topic for most taxpayers, especially when that money had been earmarked for children.
Perhaps this would be a good time to start a new discussion topic. I don't have kids so I can't say much, but a community meeting in say a couple of weeks might be in order. As fun as it is to beat on each other, we might save that wonderful vitriol for a moment. I propose we get as many facts as we can (they may not be forthcoming), come together say Thursday the 23rd, in a park if we must, a better location if we can.
We might conclude that no action would be useful and we could then resume our regular Keystone Cop routine. Or we might have demands that we feel need to be put to the boys and girls club - or someone else if we come up with a more eligible villain. Perhaps we might want to get a couple of buses to their Markham headquarters to make some noise as a gentle suggestion that it would be wise for them to make the Junction Triangle a top priority. It might be nice to focus this wonderful creativity externally for once.
I find it strange that at the same time that the DBGC is shutting down the Junction Triangle site and warning of dire consequences they are in the press celebrating all the money they have raised and all the celebrities that are involved.
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/869546--boys-and-girls-c...
They don't mention Junction Triangle or the shut down in the story even though it happened at the same time. Something seems odd to me about this. The public gets a letter that's all sunshine but the we get a letter of doom and gloom. Is this the same organization?
I am reading almost all the comments and I want to know what we can do to fix this problem. As a mother, I am worried for the kids and I don’t want to put more wood to the fire I just want to help and find solutions for the good well of our kids and our community.
Kevin Beaulieu and Ana Bailao have nothing to do with the day to day running or the Board of this organization so dragging them into this makes no sense; even I was told great things a short while ago by DBGC so many people have been deceived.
It is clear though that the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club has a lot to answer for as they are the ones legally responsible for this site and the funds. What happened ? I have not heard one credible explanation for this fiasco.
The record shows that the City has bent over backward to help the club and so did the new landlord. The vague reasons for closing down the new location just don't hold up to even modest examination. What is the real issue behind all this?
The DBGC needs to open it's books and minutes to the community that funds it and explain step by step starting a year or so ago what has been going on and where money has been going. Is that too much to ask of a charity?
The Boys and Girls Clubs have done a lot of great work and it pains me to see what is happening but sometimes you need to dig and deal with what you find in order for something to survive and you also have to stand up for the children of your hood when you feel they are paying the price for other peoples mistakes.
Hi to everyone,
I have been monitoring the emails going back and forth, and find it rather pathetic that it has come down to this.
As a parent who is a member of the club and has his son enrolled as a member year round, I cannot believe the position that the club has been put into.
Just to clarify, my entire life has been ward 18. More than I can say for most of the candidates running.
At the last debate Kevin came out publicly and said that he was very instrumental in the procurement and negotiation of the lease. When and if this is true and is confirmed then Kevin should wear this. As he almost destroyed what has become an institution in our ward. The Boys and Girls club has been around more than forty years and he almost took it down in less than two years.
I almost find laughable if it wasn't so pathetic how he was trying to gain points, as Ana was being questioned as to her involvement with the club (by one of the members). When Ana snapped backed and asked her to "get her facts" straight next time. I know if the club suffers so will Kevin at the polls, and as for Ana, I know that member and I am sure you will have your hands full with her.
I think it would be best if none of these two spoke of the club as if they have not done anything or have any interest in its betterment. The proof is "in the pudding".
I think it would almost be best if a closer look as at to what happened at the club can be done. And, the people responsible should be made to answer.
Thank you,
Vince DeMasi
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
Hi Mr. Fava
Thanks for keeping me in the loop. We're working on a letter to the community right now to go out tomorrow. .
Anyway, there has been not a lot political in our decision making.. Our decision was made by ourselves once we had all the info, and the big shocker in the new info was that we were planning this huge investment when all we had was a permit for a professional dance studio! We don't run professional dance studios. The building is not permitted to be used as a children's space, it doesn't even have an HVAC system. It has no windows. There is no yard for the kids. Why it was ever conceived is incomprehensible to me. When we inherited this situation, we really explored how we might make a go of it, but all roads led to this end. There comes a time when you have to stop trying to make a silk purse out of a cow's ear.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell
It is good to start hearing something from an organization that spends our money and I commend them for that. I do think though that there are many unanswered questions about the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club process and governance that this letter does not answer and I am pretty sure that residents will want to see minutes from meetings and documentation.
Justin’s response has a lot of "I" and a lot of "we" but not a lot of Junction Triangle having any input, say, or access to information about how decisions affecting our children and donations that were or are made on our behalf. And in some ways this document is at odds with a letter circulated yesterday by the Board Chair Vivian Payne. Here are some of my thoughts.
--For an issue as serious as this I am surprised a release was not put forth by the entire Board and the Chair. Yesterday the Chair said she felt uncomfortable speaking without the rest of the Board and today we have an operations manager speaking on matters that were ultimately voted on by the Board in a press release issued at 7pm at night. Does the Board know about this release, does it have their stamp of approval? Who exactly is making decisions at DBGC? I am not exactly sure. This is a serious situation affecting hundreds of children and the health of a community, why has the entire Board not issued a statement? Or made a pledge to clear the air soon?
--In her letter of yesterday Board Chair Vivian Payne writes "One of our goals is more community decision-making involvement. " This seems at odds with Justin's letter where he states "In the next few weeks, senior staff will be meeting to form a working group tasked with compiling an Executive Plan written, designed and published specifically for the Junction Triangle Community." This doesn't sound like "community decision-making involvement" to me at all. A top down approach to making decisions about programs that we in part fund is not going to fly in Junction Triangle any more.
--There are a lot of vague comments in the letters like "We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy. " This may be very true but so far no member of the public has seen one piece of documentation that shows this or explains the circumstances that led to this. There was ZERO opportunity for the community to get involved and possibly save the situation or at least brace themselves for this terrible blow to community pride. A screw up of this magnitude deserves far greater detail.
-- Payne states in her letter "I can say that services for the children in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood are now the top priority (other crises having been dealt with)". Exactly how many crisis situations are there at the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club? Is the closing of the Junction Triangle in any way related to issues elsewhere? How could the Junction Triangle site as you say "put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy."? Is there a larger issue that possibly needs addressing? What exactly is the larger story? Is Junction Triangle the sacrificial lamb for other issues or locations? Explain.
-- I am alarmed by Payne's statement about staff that "I think they have some really good and practicable ideas about how to move forward in an even more inclusive way than running a single-site operation." This statement would seem to suggest that the issue is not with the governance of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club but in the actual structure of the outreach and it reaches the conclusion, once again with ZERO community input, that Junction Triangle doesn't need a single site option. Junction Triangle residents will be the judge of those kinds of assumptions from now on.
Frankly this statement reeks of pandering and condescension. It seems absurd to me that an organization that is involved with communities would see little value in a single site option that could provide many different things for an even greater amount of the community. It would seem obvious to most that a community that has no community center or central meeting place or medium sized meeting hall would benefit in many ways from a central single location operation. An operation that could be rented out to the community and others for all sorts of events that would PAY THE RENT on the location. And maybe too some others like literacy or kids playgroups could use the space for free because it would be the right thing to do. And how lovely to be only a few feet from Railpath, the single most important new public infrastructure in the community in 20 years? And what about the role of the community rallying around a central site of pride where children are celebrated? What could be more inclusive than having children see their club a respected and valuable part of the larger community?
I guess not for the children of Junction Triangle. They get second best. All they will get will be the same overcrowded pokey rooms spread out all over the place with no sense of cohesion. There will be no "here" here but apparently single site solutions work very well on the other side of Lansdowne.
--Probably most troubling is this statement "I am looking at Ernest as a "wrong turn". We have corrected our direction in canceling the project, that's all." The wasting of a few hundred thousand dollars of our (public) money and many donations is just a "wrong turn" that Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club Board and Operations Manager can back up, turn around , and drive away from? Dash the hopes of a community and its children and walk away "thats all". Waste a very large amount of money and hold nobody accountable, it was just a "wrong turn". How disgraceful and maddening to dismiss the loss of what could have been a massive game changer and soul creator so easily.
These late night letters from Justin and Vivian do not clear any air for residents of Junction Triangle; they only beg more questions. How much money exactly is walking away from this site going to cost including legal fees to break a lease? Who exactly is responsible for this colossal screw up? What attempts were made to raise new money or get a rent reduction or find additional rent payers to share the cost? Why wasn’t the community alerted to the issue in a timely fashion considering they are stakeholders? How many Board Members are from Junction Triangle compared to the breakdown of donated income and children served of DBGC? Why did one of the Board Members from Junction Triangle feel they had to resign? This situation deserves a full response and accounting from the Board of DBGC before one more cent of public money or donated services is spent.
Why We Cancelled the Project at 45 Ernest Ave
An Open Letter from Operations Manager Justin Hanna:
Dear members of the Junction Triangle community, on August 24th, 2010, after a careful review of the Ernest project and the long term operations and goals of our organization, our new Board of Directors decided to cancel our quest to build a new centre at 45 Ernest Ave. This was not an easy decision and no one was happy to make it.
I would like to share with you the reasons for this decision and what we intend to do over the coming months to ensure that the long term promise of a permanent home for our newly named Junction Triangle Boys & Girls Club become a true reality. We would like to clearly state though, that while our work at 45 Ernest Ave has ended, our work to provide top notch quality after-school programming and day camps for your community continues. As we write this letter, the senior staff at the Junction Club are busy preparing their programs for the new school year, and are extremely excited to begin a new year with the hundreds of youth they serve. We remain committed to the Junction Triangle community and we are committed to ensuring that every youth who joins our club, is well taken care of and surrounded by great positive role models.
Here is a brief history of events. In April 2010, I took over from retired Executive Director Tony Puopolo. At that time, I began a full review of our organization and a review of our capital projects. I began by asking the question, did these projects make sense for our Club as a whole, did they serve the long term interest of the youth we serve and did they serve the long term interest of the communities we proudly play host to. The project at 45 Ernest Ave was one that was rushed into by the previous administration, one that was never properly evaluated for its site use requirements, effectiveness or economic feasibility. Our organization rushed into a massive capital project without ensuring that all proper steps, including proper zoning, were taken to ensure that our Club could properly operate in this facility. As a result of prior poor planning and judgment, we would have been left with a centre that could never serve the basic function of our organization, let alone the long term programming goals that staff are planning to execute over the coming months.
I realize that a promise was made to all of you, that you would be walking into your new home this year. While I am delaying this promise, please know I intend to keep it. I believe that the community deserves a Club that can help foster the positive changes happening within the Junction Triangle, a centre that you can be proud of and call your home, a centre designed for the 21st century and one that delivers on the types of programs that we as an organization and you as parents demand.
In the next few weeks, senior staff will be meeting to form a working group tasked with compiling an Executive Plan written, designed and published specifically for the Junction Triangle Community. A plan that looks specifically at your community, its demographics , the interest of youths, and other program service deliveries in the area. This plan, with its goal of being completed by spring 2011, will for the first time look at our critical role in the Junction Community.
We rushed into the 45 Ernest Ave project. We refuse to make the same mistake twice. We are going to be a permanent player in the Junction community, we are going to be a long term positive force and we are going to ensure that every youth in the Junction Triangle community has every opportunity that every child deserves in our great city, therefore we are going to start planning for the long term. I make a commitment to you that this process will be done properly and efficiently.
I hope you, as community members and leaders, can understand the difficult decision that we have had to make, and grant us the opportunity as an organization to get it right.
Our staff at the Junction Triangle Boys & Girls Club currently operating out of 120 Perth Ave, are excited to begin a new school year and are committed to providing top notch after school programs.
Finally, we have to acknowledge the tremendous support, assistance, and advice we received from Councillor Adam Giambrone and his staff. Also, we thank the staff and students at Central Technical School, Sears, the GAP, and Home Depot for their valiant attempts to turn a warehouse into a community centre. It is entirely regrettable that all our efforts were in vain.
Thank you
Justin Hanna
Operations Manager
Dovercourt Boys & Girls Club
Why did they keep everybody in the dark and not provide a chance for people in the community to seek solutions and maybe even raise funds?
If they leave that location there will be.
1. The waste of the original funding and donations.
2. The cost of restoring the site to it's original condition which is standard.
3. The legal fees and penalties for breaking the lease.
How much donated money and time are we about to loose here? And on whose shoulders does this fall?
At the August 25, 26 and 27, 2010, Council meeting Council voted to give 35,000 to the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club on Westmorland for their reno needs. Was there ever any discussion or attempts to get help for JT at that time?
It would be great if the Board of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club came clean on what they have been up to and engage the actual community where donated money was spent (and may be wasted).
Hi Mr. Fava
I am Vivian Payne, Interim Chair of the new Board of Directors for the Dovercourt Boys' and Girls' Club.
Your comments come just at the right time. We are just now finalizing our information letter to go out to the community. You are right, we are cancelling the Ernest site, and we are planning a community meeting to explain the situation. It is really complicated, and we do have very good reasons, which will be explained, I promise. At the AGM, there were things that we did not know that affected the viability of the project, hence the optimism about Ernest that you saw at that meeting. That optimism was genuine. We received new information during the summer which, frankly, doomed the project, and put the entire operation of the Dovercourt B & G Club at risk of bankruptcy.
I don't want to say too much more right now because I hesitate to say too much without consulting with the other 15 Board members. Just because I am the Interim Chair, does not, I feel, give me the authority to speak for the others but I thought you should have some response. I am trusting that the other Board members will forgive me this once. We have adopted a very democratic model for this new Board, which is, I believe, one of the best Boards in Dovercourt's history. One of our goals is more community decision-making involvement. You're not seeing that happen yet because we've only just started to work together as a group, but you will see evidence of it soon, and I hope you will become part of that.
I can say that services for the children in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood are now the top priority (other crises having been dealt with) and while we may not have the Ernest site as a home base, we are looking at ways to actually increase services to children in the area. How to accomplish this has been the subject of very passionate discussion in our first two meetings, all discussion with the theme "How do we do more?". Our Operations Manager, Justin Hanna, and our two Program Directors (Tony Palermo and Matteo Severino) have been absolutely stellar in their commitment to the children and their families, and I think they have some really good and practicable ideas about how to move forward in an even more inclusive way than running a single-site operation. They are the employees on the ground, and we on the Board are going to take a lot of direction from them.
I am looking at Ernest as a "wrong turn". We have corrected our direction in cancelling the project, that's all. This doesn't mean that where we end up, now that we're on a better course, won't be wonderful, and possibly better, than what was originally conceived.
Email me back. I'd be happy to meet with you. And you can copy this email to others on your list. I'd have copied them myself but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I hit "reply" not "reply all" at the beginning of writing, and then I was worried I'd lose the text if I tried to change it after I'd started writing.
Vivian Payne
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